Zalman Theater 6 Surround Sound Headphones Review - Tests

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These headphones are of the closed-ear design, which tends to havemore bass than the open ear and semi-open ear designs. Since Zalman isaiming at the gaming market with these headphones, this comes as nosurprise: most video games and movies are very bass heavy, especiallywhen compared to music. These headphones will also come as a relief toparents of gamers who are looking for a way to eliminate the occasionaldeath cry of enemy soldiers, and who wish to keep the continualre-enactment of the World War II from interrupting an otherwiseenjoyable life in Suburbia.

I tested the unit with two sound sources: a Creative LabsSoundBlaster Live! card in my PC, and Zalman's ZMRSSC USB ExternalSoundcard.

To test these headphones, I decided to focus mostly on movies andvideo games. Although I touch on music, it's not Zalman's focus, so nota heavy consideration in this review. Before starting there is oneobservation which is big enough to point out. The headphone's designhas speakers at the front/left and front/right corners, center/left andcenter/right, and back/left and back/right. This is done in order tocreate the feel of surround sound. Unfortunately, human evolution playsagainst Zalman at this point. Although the front speakers are heard assuch - front corner speakers - the back speakers don't sound quite likethey're behind you. This is because the proximity of the ear to thespeaker is represented by the human ear as being nearer to the centerthan the back. Although the back speakers, by themselves, sound prettygood, the spatial effects are not as clear as Zalman would hope. Thisis not to say that they're ineffective. Far from it! But it doesindicate that unless you know what you're looking for, you're likely tofeel that the sound is a bit too blended from that angle, like it's allcoming from the center.